THE OTHER CHEEK // Andrew Landeryou's Blog of Freedom: Sunday, 11 May 2008

Sunday, 11 May 2008

DOC EVATT'S GHOST: Speaking of Cells, Cancers, Corruption, Cover-ups Against Him, Now Performing Probes and Purges, Ted Baillieu Goes Completely Barking At The Moon Mad

Doc Evatt was one of Labor's most brilliant leaders. His inability to cope with the disappointments of defeat by Menzies though drove him completely - literally - insane and that tragically manifested itself in the expulsion of very many good people from the Labor party in the mid 1950s. It turned the Labor party into an unelectable rabble.

Ted Baillieu by all accounts is a good and decent man who is in a good he is manifestly unsuited to occupy. He's got the policy mix wrong. He's got the wrong personnel in Spring Street. With an occasional exceptions, he has a staff that has been pretty ordinary.

Unquestionably he's been provoked. As was the grouchy brilliant loon Doc Evatt as anyone who's read the back copies of News Weekly from the 50s can tell you. But his reaction destroyed him and very nearly destroyed the party he said he loved.

Bad things happen in life. It's how we react that is the measure of our success or failure.

And what you see below is an incredible over-reaction. And as much as this news sharing blog of freedom loves such things because it gives us something to write about, it does make us sad for all involved.

Game on.

Sunday, 11 May 2008 - Statement

Ted Baillieu Leader of the Liberal Party

I am appalled at events and activities that have been going on within the Administrative arm of the Victorian Liberal Party.

What is obvious to me and others who have looked at the evidence, is that people who have been in the Liberal Party's engine room and responsible for our campaigns, our policies and our candidates have been working against us.

At the very heart of our Party we have a cell who have been effectively working for the ALP rather than the Liberal Party.

Their activities have not just undermined me, they have targeted and undermined a number of other Liberal members of the State and Federal Parliament.

They have undermined our campaigns, candidates and our representatives. The activities of this cell that has been operating within our party, has corrupted our election campaigns and our ability to fight Labor.

The conduct of the two individuals who were recently identified by the State Director and President is a disgrace and runs against everything that this Party stands for. They have deliberately and wilfully sought to harm this party and its members.

They have not acted alone. And there will be no cover-up of their activities.

The activities of these individuals and their networks must now be investigated.

The actions of this group are not confined to a website.

This cell has undermined our efforts to win government. They have undermined and corrupted our Party. They have targeted our policies, candidates and branches.

We have a new State Director, Mr Tony Nutt, who commences tomorrow. I have instructed Mr Nutt to undertake a full investigation into the activities that have been going on within the Victorian Liberal Party.

Mr Tony Nutt will prepare a complete report on his findings. The report and its findings will be brought before the membership of the Party.

It is time to clean house. We have some cancerous elements within our party and they are destroying the Liberal Party for all of its members. We have genuine deep seated problems and it is time that we confront them.

Those who are found to have been involved in these activities will be disciplined.

The Liberal Party belongs to its members and it belongs to Victoria. I intend to make sure this remains a strong, vibrant and open party, true to its members, true to Victoria and a strong alternative to the ALP.

This party will be reformed.

Authorised by Julian Sheezel, 104 Exhibition St, Melbourne 3000

Game on.

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LOOMING BLOODSHED: Red Ted Baillieu Plans To Slay Critics of His Lefty Leadership Style

The OC has learned this morning that a number of individuals associated or believed to be associated with the creation of the a marvellously well written Ted Baillieu Must Go website have been threatened with expulsion from the party for expressing dissent against the Leader by Baillieu loyalists.

THE ROLE OF KEMP

They are believed to have prevailed upon the state President Dr David Kemp to launch a jihad against the dissenters. It is widely expected that Kemp will push the Admin Committee of the Victorian division of the party will refer a number of individuals for expulsion to the Policy Assembly.

"He needs to be seen to do something", a well placed insider told the OC today.

The Baillieu folk say that those involved have acted in such a public way to destabilise Ted that a failure to discipline them will only exacerbate his precarious position. Not that we wish to encourage or help the Liberal's most left-wing state leader ever but many observers in and outside the Liberal party and in the ranks of journalistes strongly disagree, saying that expelling anyone in relation to this could be a gruesome and possibly disastrous process for the party and Baillieu to endure.

PHYRRIC VICTORY FOR RED TED

The Policy Assembly in particular is a large body, with as many as a hundred members, with two from federal electorate and a number from State Council, which would then debate the merits or otherwise of being critical of Ted Baillieu's controversial leadership style.

The concern about Baillieu within the organisation will be impossible to contain at such a gathering, dealing with such subject matter.

Senior Liberals tell the OC that sound recordings of the Policy Assembly have been made before and have been leaked to journalists. It would be inevitable that the gathering would leak to the press and those critical of Baillieu would have an ideal platform to discuss the contents of the site which deal with Baillieu's leadership and policy positions.

Equally, those intent on expulsion will have to accept the normal party processes and debates occurring because if they don't they would leave themselves open to litigation claiming the party's rules and common law procedural fairness were not complied with, which would further draw attention to the serious amount of division within the party and the rising tide of criticism that is engulfing current state Leader Ted Baillieu.

Game on.

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BIG THREATS: Dan Feldman Rides In On His Sagging Horse To Rescue Julian Sheezel

One amusing aspect of Blog-Gate yesterday we hear was the intervention of Liberal party lawyer and best mate of Julian Sheezel, Dan Feldman. The pugnacious lawyer was on the phone moaning and threatening the Herald Sun and anyone else he could find to threaten legal proceedings against those who accused Julian Sheezel of being knowingly concerned in the dissident website that was critical of Red Ted.

Feldman is a lawyer with expertise in sacking people, according to the Gadens website, an area of advice that his chum Sheezel has no doubt found very helpful in recent times.

104 insiders report from a safe distance of the Stasi style environment that Dan and Jules regularly slug it out in flamboyantly coloured tracksuits at the Kooyong Tennis Club, where their preferred game is never moving far from the baseline to avoid raising too much of a sweat.

Indeed Sheezel has a lot of form - Liberal insiders say - dropping his factional colleagues in the poo. Some within the Costello/Kroger grouping argue that Sheezel has been far more effective in slotting their own faction members than anyone on the opposing side could ever claim to be, including faction hard-man David Davis.

One Liberal insider who asked not to be named because of the risk of being sat on by Big Dan told us that "Julian is very used to hanging others out to dry but is unfamiliar with being held to account for his own actions."

Game on.

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CHUTZPAH: Josh Gordon You Are So Full of Shite

The late and great former President Reagan constantly reminds me via a coffee cup that bears his quote:

"There is no limit to what a man can accomplish if he doesn't mind who takes the credit."

Usually that's our approach. We don't usually mind who claims credit for our yarns as long as the great cause of patriotism is served through our good news being distributed far and wide.

But today's effort by the Sunday Age's Josh Gordon in falsely claiming credit for the OC's investigations into the website and the crisis of confidence in Ted Baillieu's leadership is quite outrageous. He boasted falsely:

In a joint statement issued yesterday afternoon, Mr Sheezel and Liberal state president Dr David Kemp confirmed that the staff members had been sacked. It followed inquiries by The Sunday Age. Dr Kemp said their actions had been "gravely detrimental to the interests of the party".

This is absolute nonsense as the nation's most popular newspaper, the Sunday Herald Sun correctly acknowledges:

The party issued a statement yesterday, after it became aware that the Sunday Herald Sun and political commentator and blogger Andrew Landeryou had information on the drastic sackings.

That's the truth of it. We found out about it, shared it with a highly respected investigative journalist at the Sunday Herald Sun James Campbell, whose knowledge of the Liberal party is extensive. Our inquiries clearly triggered the panicked Julian Sheezel into releasing the statement he did.

For the Sunday Age to attempt to claim credit for a story which they were desperate to read about on the OC - as the Google Analytics data that records which domains visit the OC above clearly indicates - is richer than the venison goulash I contemplated eating the other night in a fine Swiss dining establishment. (Man cannot live by KFC alone)

Game on.

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THEIR GREATEST HITS: Ted Baillieu Who Stands For Nothing

WHAT THE SITE WAS ALL ABOUT

Ted Baillieu stands for nothing and he must go. The Liberal Party can win back Victoria, but Ted Baillieu is beyond reform.

He professes to be a small ‘l’ liberal but wouldn’t know the meaning of the word. When asked what the Liberal Party stands for under his leadership, he stumbles. All he says is that he wants the Party to be “inclusive, broad-based, young at heart and aspirational”. But what does that mean and why would it make ordinary voters want to change government? Why would they want Ted Baillieu to be Premier?

The State Parliamentary Liberal Party should stand for:

1. Safer streets and homes: being tough on crime and protecting Victorians.

2. Better education standards: getting the basics of reading, writing and mathematics right.

3. Securing our water: building a real dam for the future.

4. Cutting state taxes and stamp duty: reducing the burden of government and tackling housing affordability.

But unfortunately we need a new leader to make that happen.

GEM #1 - LAUGHING AT RED TED ATTEMPTING TO OUTFLANK LABOR ON THE LEFT

Ted, there is naught to be gained by pursuing alliances with those who will never vote for you, be they unions, opponents of bay dredging, refugee collectives, Greenpeace or the (laughably small) Malcolm Fraser Appreciation Society.

The Liberal Party has never won an election by outflanking the ALP on left. Every attempt to do so has resulted in electoral humiliation. If the politically talented and genuinely charismatic John Brogden couldn’t do it, what on earth makes you think you can?

Try heading east of Burke Rd once in a while Ted. You might learn something.

GEM #2 - DISSING PAUL AUSTIN - COULD THERE BE A MORE WORTHY TARGET?

...pitiful offering from Baillieu sycophantic marionette Paul Austin at the Spencer St Soviet...

The truly frightening thing about this is that Austin does not scratch himself without getting properly briefed by Red Ted and his boy Michael Kapel. So this is clearly the line that the intellectual juggernauts at 157 Spencer St are hoping to push.

...Not surprisingly, details of what to expect have been provided by Baillieu’s bitch Paul Austin in The Age today. Once again, there's no mention of the reshuffle in the paper that Victorians actually read, the Herald Sun.

...Ted Baillieu’s good friend is Paul Austin and The Age is his first call when he needs to spread the word. Some of Ted’s ‘colleagues’ on Spring St refer laughingly behind his back to ‘Big Red Ted’s Big Red Phone’, whenever presented with another spoon-fed offering from Ted’s lapdog at the Spencer Street Soviet, Paul Austin.

GEM #3 - RED TED POLL-AXED

Confronted with Tuesday’s devastating poll result which showed Red Ted is about as popular as paediatric cancer, the best line of defence the man could manage was:
“We’re out of office, this is not news.”

Brilliant, isn’t it? This is the sort of withering retort that would make Churchill, Menzies or Whitlam green with envy. What a performer the Baillieu boy is. It’s a wonder the vast majority of Victorians haven’t noticed this diamond in the rough.

GEM #4 - WELLS AND SHARDEY SLAMMED // WOOLDRIDGE, MULDER, GUY PRAISED

... Red Ted came up with a half baked plan where he kinda-sorta-half opposed the bay dredging, though not really. Entirely predictably, this approach profited Baillieu nothing – it pissed-off business groups and did nothing to win over the noisy crowd of doctor’s wives who oppose the dredging (because, as we said at the time, these chardonnay socialists will never, ever vote Liberal ).

Ted’s next big chance came with the State Coalition agreement, which gave him the opportunity to reshape his Shadow Cabinet and lose some of the deadwood. He wimped it, keeping proven non-performers like his mates Kim Wells and Helen Shardey in key portfolios when good people like Mary Wooldridge, Terry Mulder and Matthew Guy could have been given a chance to step up to the plate.

GEM #5 - TED BAILLIEU'S FACTIONAL ROLE

Red Ted is undeniably the most openly factional parliamentary leader the Victorian Liberal Party has ever had. In stark contrast to his lofty rhetoric of inclusiveness and respect is the reality of his Machiavellian pursuit of power. With ambition not seen since the early life of Mao Tse Tung; with paranoia not seen since the time of Emperor Tiberius; and a proclivity for nepotism not seen since the papel court of Pope Innocent the tenth - Red Ted is the ultimate hypocrite.
If you think about it for a moment Ted Baillieu has many of the attributes of a Roman Emperor, except greatness. Just like David Davis has many of the attributes of a dog, except loyalty.

GEM #6 - KIM "WHODAT" WELLS

Baillieu could have replaced Kim “Whodat” Wells as Shadow Treasurer. Wells has not exactly been a star performer in this key portfolio – and it’s territory the Liberal Party should own. Terry Mulder could have done well here. Or, given that John Lenders sits in the upper house, perhaps David Davis could have taken the job?

GEM #7 - THE AGE ANALYSED TRUTHFULLY

There is a simple rule in conservative politics; if it’s in the Age it’s probably bullshit. Nowhere is this rule more relevant than when it applies to the internal machinations of the Liberal Party. Most liberals and conservatives understand this and give the contemptible, socialist rag a wide berth; that is, except for Ted Baillieu, Petro Georgiou and that epitome of treachery John Malcolm Fraser. If fact, you only have to pick up a copy of the Age to see the latest Liberal Party communiqué from Ted Baillieu’s office usually under his pseudonym, Paul Austin.

What Ted doesn’t understand is that the Age is not on his side. It is what we in business would call strategic objective misalignment. They simply want a different outcome to that of the Liberal Party – specifically the retention of the Labor state government. For the Age the battle grounds are drawn internally within the ALP. How do they, the leftist editors of the Age, exert influence over the dominant conservative Labor Unity faction within the party? How do they bring about their socialist utopia while undermining both a conservative state government and nullify the threat of an effective Liberal Party?

For the answer, again just pick up the Age.

GEM #8 - PRAISE WHERE IT WAS DUE

The Liberals and Nationals have today announced they are forming a Coalition in Victoria. Given that this will affect the make up of Red Ted’s Shadow Cabinet, the delay is perhaps forgivable. This is probably the best thing Ted has done since he’s been Leader.

Game on.

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FEEL THE CARNAGE: Blog Gate Explodes As The OC Breaks The News That Shakes Liberal Politics

The OC's revelations of the dissident blog melodrama surrounding state Liberal leader Ted Baillieu have splashed in the style of a Russ Hinze belly-flop on page two in the nation's most popular newspaper, the Sunday Herald Sun (which kindly acknowledged the OC's role in bringing this story to light) and a front page below the fold on page one in the Sunday Age, which is available in some outlets in inner-city Melbourne.

All very amusing except for one thing. It's now clear that outgoing Liberal state director Julian Sheezel's gratuitous statement yesterday did have its intended effects with unfortunate descriptions of the two he blamed as "traitors" and "rats". Nasty stuff and way off the mark in the view of many Liberal observers we talk with.

THE NEW STALINISM OF RED TED

You have to wonder about who's betrayed whom here. Has the Liberal party in Victoria evolved to a point where those expressing concern about the future direction of their party and the performance of its leader are given Stalinist style beltings and denunciations of a kind that would have more suited the Labor Party in its Dark Ages in the 1960s.

Many Liberal sources, some of who genuinely and in good faith believe that Ted Baillieu can take them to victory in 2010, have told the OC of their pain about this whole incident. They want blood. They want someone to pay. They say that Julian Sheezel's outrageous statement yesterday did not go far enough. They say there will be more bloodshed. More names named.

But while all of this might be good factional point-scoring for the faction headed by David Davis which strongly supports Ted Baillieu, we are left wondering whether this whole business can anyone any good, except for the OC and other scribes.

Game on.

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